


come get cozy with me

by temptingmistakes



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Fluff, NBS Secret Santa, NBS Secret Santa 2020, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-10 16:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28320405
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/temptingmistakes/pseuds/temptingmistakes
Summary: Katara and Zuko have been friends for awhile now but have never hung out one-on-one until one winter day…
Relationships: Katara/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 54
Collections: Zutara- some of my fave fics





	come get cozy with me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [storiesfromrae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/storiesfromrae/gifts).



> {Dec 25, 2020}
> 
> Hello everyone! This is a special one-shot for my friend Rae aka @storiesfromrae on here / @zutaraslife on twitter. This is also my first time ever writing something involving Zutara, so I hope you all enjoy this. Especially you Rae- here’s your gift for secret santa. Love ya! <3
> 
> P.S. For context, Katara is 20 and Zuko is 22, but not that it really matters bc this is quite a fluff piece. okay carry on~

Katara and Zuko have known each other for almost a year now. In fleeting moments with lingering touches and stolen glances, they both test the waters, but never dare to do more. They’re the two friends that you didn't expect to get along at the start because they’re so different, but they complement each other in ways they aren’t even aware of. They are the pair of friends that tend to stand next to each other often, and sit close to one another when they’re around their friends. But never have they hung out alone, as they’d usually spend time with the rest of their friend group, or at least with one other person.

When Zuko’s eyes meet Katara’s during conversations amongst their friends, he feels a different feeling inside him that he hasn’t felt before — he always feels butterflies in his stomach whenever she’s around, especially when he catches her laughing or smiling at something he did or said. Her presence makes him feel, quite honestly happier, like he can’t ever seem to get enough time with her.

For Katara, Zuko is one of the first people she wants to go to whenever something great happens in her life. She began their friendship with teasing and playful banter, and they seem to enjoy that kind of dynamic. Whenever he shows up for group gatherings, she feels more joy within her knowing he’ll be around. No one else has ever been able catch her attention like he does.

Zuko has been trying to stir up the courage to ask her to hang out, but fear always gets in the way. He doesn’t want to make his feelings for her so obvious; it’s already scary how real his feelings are and have been for her, but with every passing day, it’s quite clear it won’t go away. Zuko’s thoughts easily get consumed by worry — worried that out of a group setting, he’d come off as too awkward, less entertaining or interesting, without any of their other friends to depend on to help carry the conversation. It doesn’t help that he has a crush on her, so naturally he’d get increasingly nervous and immensely self-conscious, trying not to say or do the wrong thing in front of her. The self-doubt reels him back in and keeps him from giving it a shot. He doesn’t want to ruin the friendship they have if she were to know, and didn’t feel the same way. He’s not one to make a move, let alone how to execute it smoothly, onto someone he likes anyway.

* * *

One winter morning in the middle of December, Zuko receives a surprise call from Katara while he eats breakfast.

“Hello?”

“Hey Zuko, good morning!” Katara’s voice chimes through the phone, and his mood brightens up at the sound of it.

“Someone’s an early riser for once?” Zuko teases, glancing at the clock on his wall that reads 9:30am.

“Oh hush.” She says, and he could just imagine her upset expression on her face with that the cute little crinkle in between her brows he notices whenever she’s annoyed.

“It’s not even 11am that really is a record.”

“Okay, you’re making me want to hang up already.” She threatens.

“Alright alright, I’m sorry.” He apologizes. “Why are you calling?”

“I was wondering if…” She trails off, and he stops breathing for a second in anticipation. “…you wanted to go ice skating later?”

Zuko freezes, acknowledging his lack of experience with ice skating.

“I gotta confess… I’m not the best at it.”

He hears her chuckle. “Lucky for you, I’m close to being an expert. I promise I won’t let you fall.“

Zuko takes a moment to figure out how to respond, but he can’t seem to make up an excuse. “Pleeease?”

“Fine, I trust you.” Zuko sighs, not like he was going to say no; he just doesn’t want to come off so eager, and so nervous. Suddenly a thought pops into his mind. “Is anyone else coming along?”

“Nope, wasn’t planning on it. Unless you want to invite anyone else…?”

“I-It’s fine with me if it’s just us.” Zuko cringes, thinking that wasn’t the most persuasive tone and hoping she dismisses it.

“Good. Let’s meet at the rink at 4, okay?” She asks, and he lets out the breath he wasn’t aware he was holding in.

“Mhm, works for me. I’ll see you then.”

“Great, can’t wait!”

She hangs up, and Zuko slides his phone away from him on the table. Hearing that last reply from Katara made his heart skip a beat, creawting a mix of excitement and nervousness inside him. It’s going to be just to two of them.

 _Is this a date? It feels like a date…_ Zuko questions himself internally. _But we’re just two friends hanging out. That’s all there is to it._

~

The local ice rink was located outside, and had such a lively atmosphere with friends and families skating around together, and music playing. A string of lights hung above them and the trees surrounding the rink were decorated with various colors that illuminated the slight darkness around them as sunset was upon them.

The icy chill in the air was only felt slightly through Katara’s dark blue peacoat, knitted beanie on her head, and gloves. Zuko’s thick black jacket and slouchy red beanie also managed to keep him warm.

“I think you’re getting the hang of it Zuko!” Katara exclaims, skating backwards effortlessly in front of him, as other ice skaters pass them by while Zuko focuses his movements to keep himself balanced.

He quickly glances back and forth from his skates to her with an embarrassed smile.

“I appreciate the vote of confidence, Katara.” He says sheepishly.

“Let’s see if you can go at least one full round without falling.” She teases him and he forces a momentarily smile.

Zuko manages to keep moving, slowly but surely around the rink without tripping over himself. During an attempt of moving a little bit faster, he loses his balance after he steps wrong for a moment. Instantly afraid and convinced he’s about to fall flat on his face, Katara notices the fearful look on his face right away and quickly lunges forward to catch both his hands flailing in the air. She helps keep himself steady as he grasps tightly onto her gloved hands.

“Whoa, that was a close one.” Katara says, relieved, as they maneuver closer to the side, out of everyone else’s way.

“I think you saved my life.” He wheezes, attempting to catch his breath.

“I just saved your face.” Katara laughs at his dramatic statement. “Now, let’s try this…“

She turns around in place, facing away from him with arms extended backwards and repositioning her hold onto his hands in a more comfortable position. She starts skating forward, pulling him along from behind.

“Does this work better for you?” She questions Zuko, but he is too flustered to say anything right away. Katara takes his silence as a no, and she peers over her shoulder at him for a moment, then lets go of one hand and skates to his right side. “What about now?"

“Oh, um, actually, yeah.” Zuko answers, hoping she doesn’t notice the blush creeping onto his face. If she did, he could easily blame it on the cold temperature. They continue to hold hands after circling the rink two more times.

He did eventually make some progress on his own while they circled around several more times until they started to get tired.

They decide to go to the mini food stand that was set up for hot cocoa before they leaving the rink. Unfortunately, after returning their skates, they see that the stand sold the last cups of cocoa already.

“Aww, we’re too late.” She pouts, crossing her arms across her chest while shivering in place. “I really wanted some right now.”

“Wait, I have some at my place!” Zuko recalls, suddenly.

“Are you inviting me over for once?” Katara quirks an eyebrow up, surprised.

“I-uh I guess I am.” He answers, rubbing the back of his neck. “I happen to live 5 minutes away anyway.”

“Really?” Her eyes lit up. “Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go!” She turns around to make her way toward the general area where they both parked their cars.

Zuko backtracked for a second, “Shouldn’t you be heading home? We’re supposed to have a snow storm later and it could start snowing any minute now.”

“We’ll be quick,” She insists. “I’ll be out of your hair in no time.”

~

After unlocking the door to his apartment, he gestured for Katara to walk in first. To her surprise, his place at first glance was actually cleaner than she expected it to be. Zuko closes the door gently behind him and shrugs off his coat, leaving him in his red sweater. He then removed his beanie, and set both on top of his sofa a few steps away from the door, and turns on the lamp nearby.

“Alright, one hot cocoa coming right up.” He makes his way to the kitchen, turning the light on, with Katara following him. He took out the box of hot cocoa from a shelf and seeing that he had at two packets left. He then picked out two mugs, filled both with milk, and placed one mug in the microwave and set it for a minute and a half.

Once it was done getting warmed up, Zuko stirred in the cocoa powder with a spoon and handed it over to Katara.

“Here you go.” He says with a soft smile.

“Thanks.” She replies, giving him a grateful smile in return as she removes her mittens and placed them in her coat pockets, and takes hold of the mug.

“Mmm, exactly what I needed.” Katara continues drinking it slowly, savoring the flavor.

“Glad to hear it.” Zuko says, then turns away to warm up his own mug for cocoa.

As he does so, he notices Katara walking away and out of the kitchen. As she quietly roams around his living room, Zuko becomes a little self conscious, knowing that the only times he’s had her over was when they were with their other friends. This is the first time he’s been alone with her in his own apartment. He especially didn’t plan on Katara staying long so that eased his nerves a little, but not by much.

“I never get tired of seeing this picture of you two.” Zuko hears her say as he stirs the cocoa powder in his mug. Coming as no surprise to him, he sees her studying a small framed photo of a younger version of him and his uncle, that was sitting on the side table by his couch.

“How old were you here, again?” She asks, glancing at the photo and back at him.

“Thirteen.” Zuko feels his cheeks grow warm already, and takes his cocoa in hand. He turns off the kitchen light and walks over to her.

“I still haven’t met your uncle yet, but you always talk about him.” Katara smiles, and glances up at Zuko. “It’s like I already know him.”

 _By the way I talk about you, it’s like he already knows you._ He thinks to himself what he doesn’t dare to say out loud.

“You’re so cute here.” She giggles, snapping Zuko out of his thoughts. “I mean not that you’re _not_ cute now or-“

Katara pauses immediately, realizing what she just said, and Zuko tries to figure out how to respond to that, trying to keep his cool.

“So… you think I’m cute?” He questions her, a small smile playing on his lips.

She presses her lips in a tight line, unsure how to reply. “I’m just surprised you still haven’t dated anyone yet. At least, for as long as I’ve known you.” 

“Just waiting for the right person to come around, I suppose.” Zuko shrugs, taking a sip of his cocoa, avoiding her gaze for a moment.

“No shame in waiting for who’s worth it in the end.” Katara says with a soft smile,setting the picture frame back down.

Zuko had to bite his tongue, even though he desperately wanted to confess the real reason he hasn’t dated anyone was because he’s been so wrapped up in his feelings for her that he hasn’t been interested in anyone else. 

Before he could act on impulse, Zuko decides to turn on the tv to fill the silence in the meantime. A movie in flashes onto the screen for a few seconds that seems to get Katara’s attention as she audibly gasps.

“Hey, I loved that movie when I was a kid!” She exclaims with a huge grin. He glances back over at the screen, and doesn’t recognize any of the characters nor what is even going on.

“I’ve… never watched it.”

“Really?!” Katara’s jaw drops in shock. “You’ve never seen Tangled?”

Zuko slowly shakes his head.

“Okay, you know what- we’re watching this.” She demands, removing her coat, leaving her in her light blue knitted sweater and taking a seat on the sofa. She eagerly pats the spot next to her. “It just started too.

Katara stares at him, with a mad pout. “I’m not leaving until you give it a shot.”

He thought it over, but didn’t take long to answer: “Alright, fine.”

She pumps her fist in the air in silent victory, and he sits down beside her. _She’s really cute when she gets excited._ Zuko smiles at her, amused at her excitement towards the tv, then steers his attention to the screen to see what all the fuss was about.

For the first hour, Katara was fairly engaged with the movie, making sure Zuko was giving the film his undivided attention. He admittedly started to get quite invested in the plot — so much that he didn’t realize Katara eventually getting quiet after awhile. In the corner of his eye, he noticed how she was beginning to nod off.

“Getting bored by your so-called favorite childhood movie?” He taunts her, glancing over at her.

She tries to sit upright, keeping her focus on the tv and shakes her head in response. “Nope.”

Zuko chuckles quietly, and returns his gaze toward the tv screen also. “You know, it’s okay to fall asleep.”

“I’m not tired, what are you talking about?” She retorts, keeping her eyes wide open.

“Did ice skating really tucker you out that much?”

“Not one bit. You know me I usually stay up late and sleep in till 11.”

“Yeah I’m still surprised you were even up at 9am. That’s _real_ early for you.”

“I knew you’d already be up by then,” She explains casually. “And besides, I had to make sure you had or made no other plans today.”

Zuko blinks in surprise, drawn aback. Now _that_ was saying something. He knows she loves staying up late and to sleep in, she’s such a night owl, and values sleep almost more than anything.

 _Did she really want to hang out with me, and_ just _me that badly?_ He wonders to himself. _Then again, it’s just an extra 2 hours though, I shouldn’t really think anything of it._

He notices her leaning her head against the couch, trying to get comfortable but not seeming to be successful.

“You… could lean on me if you want.” Zuko offers, hesitantly, with instant regret running through him.

Katara studies him momentarily, before she decides to scoot closer to him and gently rests her head on his shoulder.

“Wait, how are you so warm?” She wondered out loud, pressing into his side a little more, surprised at the warmth he seems to be radiating.

“Maybe you should stop being cold.” Zuko teases, covering up his nerves.

“Like it’s that easy. Just feel my hand.” She sticks a hand out in front of her, and Zuko lightly grasps hold onto her. He slowly runs his thumb over her fingers and notices a slight chill to them, but also feels the faded warmth of her palm that was previously holding her hot cocoa. It felt different to Zuko actually be holding her hands without the gloves on; it was a nice different though.

“Dang, you weren’t kidding.” He comments, and she just laughs, removing her hand before he could.

“What I tell you?” She resumes snuggling into his side little more than she initially did, placing her head in the crook of his neck. He’s caught off guard with the extra closeness.

“Is this okay?” She asks, noticing him suddenly stiffen up a little. Zuko turns his head toward her and is met with Katara peering up at him. He realizes he’s never been this close to her face before, and he took notice of her vibrant blue eyes.

“Y-yeah, it’s fine.” Zuko answers calmly, and looks back to the tv in attempt to keep his composure, but his increased heart rate proves otherwise.

“You better at least stay awake till the end.” She settles back into his side and soon enough she dozes off within ten minutes after that. Zuko grew aware of her body rising and falling against him, as he tried to pay attention to the movie. The romantic moments in Tangled didn’t really help his predicament.

While Katara was sound asleep for awhile more, Zuko heard her mutter something quietly, thinking that she was already waking up. He stayed quiet and tried to listen attentively in case she was going to repeat herself.

“Z-zuko…” He hears her say a little bit clearer. His eyes widen in shock, freezing in place. Was she… dreaming about him?

He remains silent and wonders if she was going to say anything more, but a moment passes in more silence. She was still very much asleep now.

After more time passes, suddenly he felt her stir, and her hair falls in her face. He watches Katara’s sleepily attempt to brush it away but she's too tired to care. So she gave up shortly, falling back to sleep.

A few minutes pass, her face still hidden behind her curtain of hair. Zuko hesitantly decides to brush the seemingly bothersome strands of hair covering her face, his fingertips brushing against his forehead gently and tucks it behind her ear. He gets distracted while doing so, letting his hand stay hovering over her ear, studying her face.

_She’s so pretty when she’s sleeping…_

Soon Katara’s eyes flutter open halfway, slowly realizing how close he was to her face.

“Wh- what are you doing?” She asks, groggily, turning her head slightly, to look up at Zuko confused. He retracts his hand quickly.

“I- uh… your hair was in your face, and you seemed bothered by it.” He explains, feeling his cheeks grow warm. “I was trying not to wake you.”

“Seems like you weren’t successful with that.” She teases, with a slightly amused smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

“Sorry you had to wake up this way.” He apologizes, timidly.

“I don’t think that’s such a bad thing,” Katara trails off, gazing up at him. Zuko gulps nervously but then gets caught off guard looking through the window behind her for the first time since they arrived that the snow was already falling hard and fast outside.

“Oh wow,” Katara follows his stare toward the window, moving away from his shoulder, and gasps. “I’m a little worried having to drive home in that…”

Zuko grows concerned about her dilemma as well as feeling like he didn’t actually want her to leave. A fleeting thought entered his mind and he was about to slap himself silly for what he was about to say but his impulses got the best of him.

“Why don’t you stay? So you don’t have to?”

“Like… stay, the night?” Katara says slowly, looking back at him, drawn aback at this offer. Since Zuko has never invited her over, he was surprised at himself how bold it was for him to ask her to sleep here.

“Only if you want to, of course.” Zuko starts to say, and tries to come up with a sleeping situation on the spot but can’t, and assumes they’d figure that out later if she even agrees.

She takes a moment to think it over. “I don’t have any extra clothes to sleep in…” She trails off, hesitant to say more. “Could I borrow a shirt of yours then, to sleep in?”

Zuko almost chokes on his own spit, but he stops himself. She technically said yes to staying over or is at least interested in the idea by asking that.

“Yeah, that’s fine.”Zuko says, clearing his throat, trying immensely hard to keep his cool. “…So, um, is that a yes?”

Katara pauses for a moment before responds. “Then yes, that’s really kind of you to offer. Thanks.”

Zuko nods, and rises up from the couch. “Okay, well if you’re staying, we better have dinner.”

“I expect a gourmet meal.” She says sassily.

He chuckles. “If gourmet, you mean frozen dumplings and rice, then you’d be correct.”

~

“You um, mind if I change into a shirt now?” Katara asks Zuko, as they finish up their meal and set their plates in the sink.

“Oh, right- sure.” He says nervously. “Come with me, I’ll let you choose.”

Zuko gestures her to follow him down a short hallway to the first door on the left, and pushes the door open.

“Sorry it’s a little messy,” He apologizes, while flipping on the light switch.

“You’re not as bad as my brother when we were growing up at home together.” She mentions, amused.

Zuko laughs as he walks over to this drawer where he keeps his t-shirts and opens it. Katara stands near him to examine her choices.

“Hmm, you don’t seem to have a very wide color palette.” She glances over the shirts that blend together in warmer tones like red, orange, and yellow.

“Okay miss, I wear different shades of blue every time I go out,” He retorts, pointing at the blue sweater she was wearing.

“Mmm, touché. Can you blame me though, it’s my favorite color.” She says to defend herself, but proceeds to grab a dark red shirt with a faded graphic design on it.

“Guess this will do.” She holds the shirt out in front of her and measures the length against her body. “It’ll be a little oversized, but that makes it comfy.” She smiles, satisfied.

“That’s good.” Zuko says, unsure what to say next and shoved his hands in his pockets. “Okay, I’ll step out for a moment and let you change here.”

He quickly turns to leave. “You can turn off the light when you’re done.”

“Thanks!” Katara calls out to him as he closes the door. He busies himself over to the living room to clean up their empty mugs they left off the table and goes to place it in the sink aside the dishes. He sits back down onto the sofa, and tries to focus on the tv still playing, and not about the girl he likes that’s currently changing into one of this shirts.

Soon enough he hears her footsteps coming, and in the corner of his eye he sees her, and slowly looks up.

_She looks really good in red…_

Katara catches him staring a little. “What, does it look bad? Does red not suit me?”

Zuko’s eyes widen immensely, as he is struggling to find the right words to say, and shakes his head.

“N-no not at all. I mean- red doesn’t look bad on you.” He continues stumbling over his words. “It looks better on you than it does on me.”

_Did I really just say that?_

“That’s sweet of you to say.” Katara says, a flattered look on her face. She sits back down on the sofa next to Zuko, a little closer than he was expecting her to. He assumes that she was comfortable enough learning against him earlier, she didn’t seem to notice how close she was to him again.

They sit there in silence watching the next movie, and Zuko can’t help but wander back to the moment Katara said his name while she was asleep. He looks at her curiously with the thought in mind, but soon enough she catches him looking at her.

“What?” She finally questions him.

“I- uh nothing.” He began to say, but she stares at him unconvinced, waiting for him to further explain himself.

“Well, when you were asleep before… I think I might’ve heard you say my name?” Zuko mentions, embarrassed.

To his surprise, Katara’s now the one with a flustered look on her face. “Really? Y-you heard me say that?”

Zuko thinks he might be imagining this, but she seemed to blush a little at that. He simply nods, and waits for her to answer.

“I honestly don’t remember much from the dream…” She answers, seemingly uncertain. “But yes, you were in it.”

He tries to make eye contact with her but for once, there’s slight doubt he can see in her face.

“Are you sure you don’t remember?” Zuko asks, continuing to study her expression.

Katara contemplated whether or not to spill everything. He fully turns his body towards her, and looks at her earnestly.

“You know you can tell me, I won’t judge you."

She makes direct eye contact with him, seeing that what he said was genuine.

“Okay, fine.” Katara admits, fully turning her body towards him. ”In my dream you had the power to control fire, and so did your sister and you both were fighting for some reason.”

“Huh, I know me and my sister have a rocky relationship, but us fighting like that?” Zuko slightly amused at the thought. "Did I win though?” He asks curiously, placing his elbow on top of the couch cushions behind him, and resting his chin in his hand.

“Not sure, um-“ Katara starts to explain, a little nervous. “She also had the power to generate lightning and I was standing nearby and she decided to aim for me. You noticed in a split second and dove right in front of me.”

“Oh wow…” He blinks in shock. “Was I alright?”

Her expression grows slightly solemn as she continues to describe what happened.

“At first- no. You fell to the ground in pain, and I shouted your name as I ran over to you. But Azula tried to hit me with lightning again, and I ran away to dodge her attacks. Apparently I had the power to control water and this is where my memory is a little hazy, but somehow I found a way to stop her, and I was able to run back to you. Somehow I knew how to heal your wound with water, so I did that and then you weren’t in so much pain anymore. Not too long after that, that’s when I woke up.”

Zuko nods, processing the recollection of her dream. “That all sounds like it would happen in a movie or something. I never have dreams that vivid or that wild.”

“Typically me neither, to be honest.” She admits, shaking her head.

“Well, I gotta say, somehow you having the power to control water suits you.” Zuko mentions.

“So does controlling fire for you.”

“How so?” He asks, curiously, placing his arm on the back of the couch.

She shrugs. “I don’t know, just got a feeling. What about you about me?”

“I guess I have no exact reasoning either, it just seems… right.”

Katara nods, considering it as a compliment. She waits a moment before saying anything more.

“I’m glad I woke up to you- alive.” She catches her herself, placing her hands in her lap. “It all just felt so real.” Katara was still avoiding his eyes, as if she was still a little shaken and bothered by the memory of the dream she just had.

Zuko felt the need to reassure her somehow, and reaches out to touch her hand in her lap. Katara glances at his hand in surprise, as he slowly brought hers up to his heart, holding it in place.

“If it brings you any comfort, um… hope this helps prove I am alive.” He says sheepishly, hoping she doesn’t think this was too cheesy of a gesture.

“You know I can’t really feel your heartbeat there. It’s more like if I did this…”

Zuko releases her hand to let it wander up to his neck and gently press onto where she can feel his pulse with two fingers. His eyes widen as he attempts to control his breathing in response to this near-intimate touch. Katara notices almost instantly, and observes him, confused.

“Zuko, your pulse is racing, are you ok-“ Her expression relaxes in realization as her lips start to turn into a slightly amused smirk. “Wait, am I making you nervous?”

“N-no…”

“Can’t lie to me now.” Katara leans forward to study his eyes.“I can tell by the look in your eyes.”

While doing so, she notices the golden tint to his amber eyes that she’s never gotten a good look at before. In that moment she feels like she can't look away, nor did she want to; she was mesmerized by him.

Zuko involuntarily gulps, tongue tied for words that further digs him in a deeper hole with no way out.

“Katara…” Is the only word that escapes his lips in that moment.

She gazes back at him, and he swears that the world stopped spinning right then.

It was like they both felt a strong magnetic pull between each other and they didn’t dare pull apart. Katara inches closer to his face and moves her hand upwards to caress his jaw and then his cheek, fully placing her hand on the side of his neck. Zuko leans closer to her until he felt the warmth of her breath ghost over his lips, and Katara felt his breath on hers. A shiver ran down his spine and he instinctively closes his eyes. In an instant, Zuko felt her place a gentle kiss onto his lips.

Katara pulls away after a few seconds, opening her eyes and Zuko felt himself lean towards her to kiss her back, but his eyes flutter open when he notices her back away from him even more.

“I’m sorry, I-I don’t know what I was thinking…“ Katara begins to say, avoiding his gaze in regret, covering her mouth in shock.

“Hey, look at me.” Zuko says softly, and waits patiently until her eyes met his again.

“Don’t apologize. You don’t even know how long I’ve wanted that.”

“…you’ve wanted to kiss me?” She asks in a quiet whisper.

Zuko takes a moment to inhale and exhales deeply. _It’s now or never._

“Katara, I really like you. More than I’ve ever liked anyone before. I’ve been too scared to say anything before because I didn’t want to jeopardize our friendship and lose you if you didn’t.”

Katara’s expression softens. “Well, clearly you didn’t have anything to fear. I’ve actually felt something for you for awhile now.”

“Y-you have?”

She bites her lip and smiles before leaning in again, planting another tender kiss upon his lips.

“Does that answer your question?” She rests her forehead against his, and then pulls back to look at him properly.

“Mmm, I may need more convincing…” His eyes lingering on her lips, and pulls her closer to him by the waist.

They glance at each other knowingly and lessen the distance even more between them to kiss once again. Zuko couldn’t help the smile that crept onto his lips as they kissed, and Katara placed her arms around his neck, deepening the kiss even more. She sighs contently, humming against his lips. They pull away to catch their breaths and take a moment to look at each other.

“Hey, what do you say we go play in the snow together in the morning?” Katara suggests, playing with his hair on the back of his head.

Zuko chuckles softy, admiring how much of a kid at heart she is.

“Sounds perfect to me.”

They continued to stay snuggled together to keep warm as the night went on, and ended up falling asleep on the couch together, with Katara resting her head on his chest and Zuko holding her in his arms.

~


End file.
